Russian helicopter with 22 on board goes missing near Far East volcano

A Russian helicopter carrying 22 people has gone missing near a volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula in the country’s Far East, according to the local governor.

The Mi-8T helicopter had 19 passengers and three crew members on board before it disappeared on Saturday, Kamchatka Krai governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video statement. It had set off from a site near the region’s Vachkazhets volcano and was travelling to the village of Nikolaevka.

Low visibility, drizzle, and fog were observed in the Kamchatka region where the helicopter was flying, Russian state media TASS reported. The crew did not report any malfunctions to the aircraft, operational services said.

After the helicopter went missing, a search helicopter flew over the area that it was last in, Solodov said. A ground rescue team was also deployed to look for the aircraft, searching along the Bystraya River valley over which the helicopter would have flown.

On Saturday evening local time, Solodov said that the search party was continuing to look for the helicopter and its passengers in the dark and in poor weather conditions.

Kamchatka’s investigative department for transport is conducting an investigation into possible violations of rules related to traffic safety and air transport operation, it said in a Telegram post.

This is a developing story and will be updated.